You know when you grow up super religious and you’re called a good girl your entire life, so then a few years after you left the religion, you write a song titled “good girl” but make it ultra-sexy of course and reclaim the nickname for you and the other praise-kink, out-of-the-box girlies? Oh, no? Just me?
Hi! It’s Faith Richards here, your new favorite good girl turned baddie (who also likes to be called a good girl occasionally) up-and-coming R&B artist. I wrote “good girl” with producer Evan Chambers in Los Angeles this past summer.
We finished the whole track in two days before I returned back to my current home, Paris. It was honestly such an easy and smooth process. Neither of us had to think too much. It’s like the song was dying to be made and just naturally came spilling out.
I came into the studio knowing I wanted to write about how much I hated being put in a box. I felt quite a bit of judgment from others over the summer, and it brought light to how much I’d been labeled my entire life. As a child, I was called a good girl, especially in church, and I was labeled the shiest sibling out of the six of us.
So it’s quite ironic that I’m now pursuing a very in-your-face career. My siblings also would call me pathetic and too sensitive often – you know how ruthless kids can be. I was the American girl when I moved to England at age 10, and called the British girl when I moved back to America at age 16.
I’ve been told or made to feel that I’m too shy, too timid, too much of a prude, too confident, too sensual, too provocative, too picky, too damaged, too poor, too overdressed, too cocky, too emotional, and the list goes on and on and on.
So this is where the first verse came from. Me being like, you know what, actually you don’t get to tell me what or who I am. Only I do. And with all of my many layers, I’m such a fun time! I love how the verses have this bad-b*tch, idgaf energy to them, and then the chorus comes in with saying “I’m a good girl.” It feels comedic in the best of ways to me. I can’t help but smile every time I listen back.
I wanted to incorporate the phrase good girl as it’s a nickname I heard a lot growing up. In church, it was engraved in me to be good, at home I was the middle kid and just tried to stay out of trouble, at school I thrived off praise and good grades, and also my classmates constantly told me how innocent I was because I didn’t drink or have sex, or even curse. I was labeled “the challenge” by many boys in my grade, because I was still a virgin.
I had the idea for the chorus to start by saying, “I’m a good girl, you don’t know the way I ride, I take control.” And then Evan and I tried a few things and finally decided on the second half saying, “Call me good girl in the moment, all night any way you want it.”
I wanted to redefine the term good girl – not everything is so black and white. You can be a “good girl” who likes to submit and please her partner, and also a “good girl” who dominates and takes control when she wants to. My producer had the melody idea for the start of the insanely catchy “ah” hook in between these phrases. I think that’s what took it to the next level for me.
I couldn’t stop thinking, “yep this is gonna be huge!” every time we’d listen back. The whole song felt effortless, honest, unique and catchy without being corny or taking away from the chillness of it all. I also love how I got to throw in the line “we still go to church though” in the second verse after talking about being raunchy with my boyfriend.
It’s kind of me slapping back at how suppressed I used to feel as a woman in church constantly being shamed by a patriarchy pretending to be God. You can be sensual, and in tune with your body, and still love God, thank you very much!
If I haven’t scared you away yet, yay! I have plenty more songs where this one came from. My discography is 30+ songs deep, and I already have three more singles that are set to be released in 2024. Stay tuned. And like always, I’m sending you so much love, healing and baddie energy your way. May you step out of the box, and into yourself. Mwah!
Listen to “good girl” below and stream it everywhere else here.
Word by Faith Richards // Follow her on Instagram + Facebook
